Ha-ha. You missed me.
Look, Monkey.
There goes another minute.
Can you catch that one?
Chase it over. Chase it down.
Chase it all the way ...
Pop! That one got away
from you, too!"
Monkey lives in a tree. But, it is not just any tree. It is a tree that looks just like a clock!
Endpapers show the smiling monkey surrounded by a collection of small-footed, orange balls, numbered 1 through to 60. The title page has that same monkey asleep in a twelve-branched tree while the tiny orange balls march forward to climb its trunk. They want to play!
The first offers a challenge:
"Wheee! I bet you can't
catch a minute, Monkey."
Off it goes, clockwise from branch to branch. Monkey gives proper chase but can't keep up. So the game goes from one minute to the next, with the monkey just missing the mark each time.
"Pippity-pop! Pippity-pop!
Pippity-pippity-pippity ...
One hour is almost over.
There's only one minute left!"
Will the monkey catch that last minute - and what will he do with it, if he does?
The design is inspired, as I have found with each of Michael Hall's earlier books. They have a special space on our 'keepers' shelf! Always thoughtful, and endlessly engaging, we share them time and again.
The digital collages are precise and driven by the mathematical game itself. Monkey's arm sweeps from minute to minute clockwise, always chasing time. When the hour is up, the minutes fly away and a new set of green dots begin the climb to start the next hour's worth of fun. Let the game begin again!
A turn from page to page takes readers from white backgrounds showing the game's progress, to boldly colored images of the rainforest and its inhabitants, who are aware of the game in progress. In the end, Mr. Hall offers short descriptive paragraphs and thumbnail sketches of each, and further information about time itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment